Baldur's Gate 3 Fans Debate The Best Way To Play An Evil Character (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 has myriad branching dialogue paths and vital story choices that shape who you are and what your companions think of you, but a lot of players struggle with being evil.

A lot of the time that means that they understandably aren't comfortable with ripping Gale's hand off, slaughtering the tieflings in cold blood, and teaming up with Minthara as she clutches for the power to enslave Faerûn. But there are other ways to be evil that don't require so much bloodshed.

"Every day [there are] tons of 'omg I can't be evil!' posts and they are all the same: 'I was an a--hole to everyone I met and killed every single innocent NPC and it just felt WRONG!' Yeah, because being 'evil' doesn't mean you need to be a lunatic," one Reddit user posted. "In my 'evil' playthrough, I didn't kill the tieflings. I didn't chop off Gale's hand for a quick giggle. You know why? Because it never makes sense to.

"Just like in my 'good guy' playthroughs, I'm not married to the idea of putting on superhero underwear and hunting down people in distress so I can simp for them and tell them 'Yes' while turning down every reward [...] If you're trying to roleplay a believable character, make them act in a believable way."

Should You Kill The Tieflings If You're Evil In Baldur's Gate 3?

This has drummed up a bit of a debate among fans, namely what choices are vital in an evil playthrough even if you're trying to make a more nuanced character who doesn't do every single villainous thing for the sake of bad karma.

The big contention is whether you should side with the tieflings or the goblins - the latter is the morally wrong choice and arguably the easier path. You have an army on your side to attack a weakened group of refugees held up in a barely fortified grove, so it's practical, not just being evil for evil's sake.

But some argue that getting Halsin's help makes more sense and that not every evil character would immediately throw in with the Absolute and mind flayers. "If you want a solution to your problem as fast as possible, Halsin is probably the best choice," wrote one fan. "If you try to talk to Guts at the Goblin Camp, you realise they don't know sh-- about what's truly going on [...] What do you need an army of brainwashed cultists for anyway?"

One way of looking at it - as pointed out by another fan - is similar to how players approach campaigns. With an evil character, you don't typically kill all of the DM's NPCs. Instead, you stick by the philosophy that "evil gets sh-- done", crossing over moral boundaries most wouldn't to achieve the same goal, while being far more selfish, aiming to get as much gold and power as possible in the process.

Either way, it's clear that being evil doesn't mean being a murderhobo. You can dabble in the dark side without cutting everyone around you off.

Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.

See at Steam